The electrical plug cap (used during summer months) fits over a nub on the bottom of the bucket.

Nipples should be placed just above the birds’ heads. The birds should stretch up slightly to drink.

A few tricks for dealing with stubborn birds:

Remove all other sources of water. Place the new nipple waterer in the old waterer’s location.

Bring a bird’s beak directly to the nipple waterer and flick the nipple. You may have to activate the nipple with the bird’s beak to demonstrate the new water source. (See video above.)

Place a sunflower seed in the drip trough. When the bird pecks at the seed, it will discover the new water source.

Use a red laser pointer to direct chickens to the nipple. Similar to house cats, our chickens will chase and follow the red light. (This was inadvertently discovered by our photo dept and is now our go-to method for getting camera-shy birds to cooperate.)

You don’t have to train every bird in the flock. Just a few will do. Once the first chickens begin drinking, others will follow.

Precautions

We recommend placing this waterer in the coop and protected from wind. The water and nipples may freeze if exposed to direct wind.

Warning: Risk of electrical shock—Connect only to a branch circuit protected by a ground-fault circuit-interrupter (GFCI). Contact a qualified electrician if you cannot verify that the circuit is protected by a GFCI.

Troubleshooting

When connecting the detachable cord to the base, make sure the alignment notch slides easily into the groove on the bucket’s receptacle. (See photo below.) Unfortunately, it’s easier than we’d like to misalign the prongs. The result is a non-functioning unit until it’s aligned correctly.

Write a Review

This waterer does its job well—which is providing access to fresh, clean, unfrozen water during winter. Nothing fancy. We find it best to set on a cinderblock so the nipples are at about head high for the majority of the flock (lower if bantams are mixed in). We have used these waterers in temps as low as -20°F (in the coop and protected from wind). The Integrated lid handle is useful for carrying water from… Read More » a hydrant or for hanging the waterer in the coop.

Sort by:

Heated Poultry Waterer

★★★★★

December 16, 2018

Holly C
from Indiana

This item keeps the water unfrozen in the midwest winters. The chickens learned pretty fast how to use it after showing a couple. Also no mess on the lid because the hanging waterer prevents chickens from roosting on it.

Heated Poultry Waterer

★★★★★

December 14, 2018

Teri D
from Michigan

Great waterer, we have had some below freezing weather already and so far no frozen water and the chickens were so easy to take to the nipple system and the best part is I love that the water is always clean and fresh for my birds. The bucket is of great quality and the cord is very nice and long. So glad I invested in this bucket.

Heated Poultry Waterer

★★★★★

December 12, 2018

Margaret M
from North Carolina

So far so good! Took my chickens a little while to figure it out but it has not frozen despite freezing weather.

Heated Poultry Waterer

★★★★★

December 11, 2018

Dawn C
from New Hampshire

I love this. No more messy water that they would somehow manage to foul. It was 3° this morning and no frozen water. Only took once teaching about 6 of our 20 birds and they got it. I would highly recommend. Excellent service from Premier1, as always.

Heated Poultry Waterer

★★★★★

December 11, 2018

Janice N
from New York

So far this is working well. Lowest temp so far around 18 and water in rubber dish and non-heated nipple feeders was frozen this was flowing freely. The nipples are slightly different than the ones I already own and one does seem like it wants to drip but all in all a very good product. Only negative I had was the price point and high shipping cost. Still better than dealing with frozen water every day.

About Conductivity

Conductivity measures the amount of electrical current a material can carry. The opposite measure is known as resistance.

Many of Premier’s nets feature a green and white superconductor that has both stainless steel and tinned copper filaments for optimal conductivity. These “premium” nets are 10 times more conductive (38 ohms per 1000') than our “basic” nets. This enables the electric pulse to travel much farther and be less affected by weed contact.

We do not recommended the basic nets listed below for fences exceeding 500 ft in length:

Customers who are unhappy with netting are often those who’ve chosen one of these or their farmstore equivalents. Why do we offer them? Because they are similar in design and conductivity (380 ohms) to nets from our competitors—and comparisons make decisions easier.

Types of Line Posts

Line posts are built into the net. Three options are available.*

Single Spike (SS)The best choice, unless your soils are always soft or very hard.

Double Spike (DS)Posts allow you to push in the spikes with your foot. When soil is hard or rocky, double spikes are more difficult to install and remove.

Drivable Posts (DP)Allows use of a mallet or dead blow hammer for installing posts in dry, hard or rocky soil. Features a “spike stop” for extra support and internal fiberglass ribs for added strength.

Tip: To insert a line post into frozen or hard soil, use a power tool to drill pilot holes.

* Not all fences have all line post options.

About Positive/Negative (Pos/Neg) Nets

Is your area dry?

Conventional electrified fence systems rely on soil moisture to be effective. However, not all areas have the required moisture.

To overcome this, Pos/Neg nets* are wired to allow the use of every other horizontal strand as an extension of the ground terminal. Because half the strands are connected to the ground terminal or ground rod, reliance on soil moisture is reduced. A PowerLink must be purchased separately to make the secondary ground connection.

How it works…

In order to receive a shock, the animal must touch both a positive (hot) and negative (grounded) strand at the same time. This will deliver more pain to the animal than an all hot net (Pos/Pos) because moisture in the soil is not required to complete the circuit.

Pos/Neg fences can be converted to Pos/Pos in moist conditions. Remember, all fences must be kept free of vegetation.

* Not all fences have Pos/Neg options.

Line Post Spacing

“Plus” nets—6'8" spacings between built-in line posts

Standard nets—10' or 12' spacings between built-in line posts

Essential Energizer Advice

Buy a larger energizer than necessary. When the fence pleases, most folks will buy more fence—and need additional output.